'''Finnish''' (''suomen kieli'', ''suomi'') is spoken in [[Finland]] and by Finns elsewhere, predominantly in Scandinavia. Finland is officially bilingual in Finnish and [[Swedish phrasebook|Swedish]], and most Finns eventually learn both languages. In contrast, very few Swedes and even fewer foreigners learn Finnish. Almost everyone in Finland can speak english, too and young people can speak good english.

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'''Finnish''' (''suomen kieli'', ''suomi'') is spoken in [[Finland]] and by Finns elsewhere, predominantly in Scandinavia. Whether travellers to Finland ''need'' to learn Finnish is doubtful, since most Finns &mdash; including virtually all under 40 &mdash; speak at least some English. However, since so few people make the effort, you're guaranteed to get delighted reactions if you try.

==Understand==

==Understand==

−

Finnish is a '''Finno-Ugric language''' and hence completely unrelated to almost every language between Ireland and India. (In particular, Finnish has nothing at all in common with Swedish, Norwegian, Danish or any other Scandinavian language or Russian, except for a load of loan words.) The origin of these languages traces back over 5000 years to nomadic peoples of the Ural mountains in Russia that migrated westward into Europe. Just across the Gulf of Finland the closest modern relative to the Finnish language, [[Estonian phrasebook|Estonian]], is spoken. Other related languages are the Sámi languages of Lapland and the Murmansk Peninsula, and more distantly, [[Hungarian phrasebook|Hungarian]].

+

Finnish is a '''Finno-Ugric language''' and hence completely unrelated to almost every language between Iceland and India. In particular, Finnish has grammatically nothing at all in common with other Scandinavian languages or Russian, although there are many loan words from both.

+

+

The origin of these languages traces back over 5000 years to nomadic peoples of the Ural mountains in Russia that migrated westward into Europe. Just across the Gulf of Finland the closest modern relative to the Finnish language, [[Estonian phrasebook|Estonian]], is spoken. Other related languages are the Sámi languages of Lapland and the Murmansk Peninsula, and more distantly, [[Hungarian phrasebook|Hungarian]].

==Pronunciation==

==Pronunciation==

The Finnish language is fairly easy to pronounce: it has one of the most phonetic writing systems in the world, with only a small number of simple consonants and relatively few vowel sounds.

The Finnish language is fairly easy to pronounce: it has one of the most phonetic writing systems in the world, with only a small number of simple consonants and relatively few vowel sounds.

+

Native English speakers tend to have the most problems with '''vowel length''' and the distinction between the '''front vowels''' (ä, ö, y) and '''back vowels''' (a, o, u). English ''does'' make the same distiction &mdash; consider the "a" sounds of ''father'' (back) and ''cat'' (front), or the difference in the "i" sound for ''bit'' (short) and ''beat'' (long) &mdash; but you will need to pay extra attention to it in Finnish.

Native English speakers tend to have the most problems with '''vowel length''' and the distinction between the '''front vowels''' (ä, ö, y) and '''back vowels''' (a, o, u). English ''does'' make the same distiction &mdash; consider the "a" sounds of ''father'' (back) and ''cat'' (front), or the difference in the "i" sound for ''bit'' (short) and ''beat'' (long) &mdash; but you will need to pay extra attention to it in Finnish.

−

In Finnish, all vowels are single sounds (or "pure" vowels). All diphthongs retain the individual sounds of its vowels but are slightly blended together to be pronounced in one "beat". Doubled letters are simply pronounced longer, but it's important to differentiate between short and long sounds. Example:

+

In Finnish, all vowels are single sounds (or "pure" vowels). Doubled letters are simply pronounced longer, but it's important to differentiate between short and long sounds. Example:

−

: '''tuli''' &rarr; fire

+

: '''tuli''' (TO-ly) &rarr; fire

−

: '''tuuli''' &rarr; wind

+

: '''tuuli''' (TOO-ly) &rarr; wind

−

: '''tulli''' &rarr; customs

+

: '''tulli''' (TUL-ly) &rarr; customs

The basic Finnish alphabet consists of the following letters:

The basic Finnish alphabet consists of the following letters:

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; e : like '''e''' in ''g'''e'''t''

; e : like '''e''' in ''g'''e'''t''

; ee : not found in English, but just stretch out the ''e'' sound

; ee : not found in English, but just stretch out the ''e'' sound

−

; i : like '''i''' in ''b'''i'''t''

+

; i : like '''ee''' in ''b'''ee'''t''

−

; ii : like '''ee''' in ''b'''ee'''t''

+

; o : like '''o''' in ''n'''o'''r''

−

; o : like '''o''' in ''c'''o'''d''

+

; oo : stretch out the ''o'' sound

−

; oo : like '''oo''' in ''d'''oo'''r''

+

; u : like '''ou''' in ''w'''ou'''ld''

; u : like '''ou''' in ''w'''ou'''ld''

; uu : like '''oo''' in ''m'''oo'''n''

; uu : like '''oo''' in ''m'''oo'''n''

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; ö : like German '''ö''', similar to '''e''' in ''h'''e'''r'' (''transcribed '''eu''' '')

; ö : like German '''ö''', similar to '''e''' in ''h'''e'''r'' (''transcribed '''eu''' '')

; öö : not found in English, but just stretch out the "ö" sound

; öö : not found in English, but just stretch out the "ö" sound

+

+

Diphthongs (vowel sequences) like the ''uo'' of ''Suomi'' (Finland) are common. They retain the individual sounds of their vowels, but are slightly blended together to be pronounced in one "beat".

===Consonants===

===Consonants===

−

If a Finnish consonant is '''doubled''', it should be pronounced with a brief '''glottal stop''', meaning that your mouth is ready to say it but pauses for a moment. Hence ''mato'' (worm) is "MAto", but ''matto'' (carpet) is "MA'to".

+

If a Finnish consonant is '''doubled''', it should be pronounced lengthened. For plosives like p, t, k, this means getting your mouth ready to say it, but pausing for a moment. Hence ''mato'' (worm) is "MA-to", but ''matto'' (carpet) is "MAT-to".

−

; b c d f : pronounced as in English (not used in native Finnish words, except for d, which is used in some words)

; g : like '''g''' in '' '''g'''et'' (never used in native Finnish words, except the digraph '''ng''', see below)

; h : like '''h''' in '' '''h'''otel'', pronounced more strongly before a consonant

; h : like '''h''' in '' '''h'''otel'', pronounced more strongly before a consonant

; j : like '''y''' in '' '''y'''es''

; j : like '''y''' in '' '''y'''es''

; k : similar to English '''k''', but unaspirated and slightly voiced

; k : similar to English '''k''', but unaspirated and slightly voiced

−

; ks : pronounced as two separate syllables, ''not'' like the letter x.

+

; ks : pronounced like English '''x'''

; l m n : pronounced as in English

; l m n : pronounced as in English

; nk ng : pronounced like '''ng''' in ''si'''ng''' ''

; nk ng : pronounced like '''ng''' in ''si'''ng''' ''

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===Stress and tone===

===Stress and tone===

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Word stress is '''always''' on the first syllable; compounds words have more than one stressed syllable. There is '''no tone whatsoever''' in Finnish speech, just a long strings of fairly monotone sounds, with all syllables given equal value except the first one. Foreigners tend to think this makes the language sound rather depressing; Finns, on the other hand, wonder why everybody else's languages-- including Russian-- sound so sing-songy.

+

Word stress is '''always''' on the first syllable; compounds words have more than one stressed syllable. There is '''no tone whatsoever''' in Finnish speech, just long strings of fairly monotone sounds, with all syllables given equal value except the first one. Foreigners tend to think this makes the language sound rather depressing; Finns, on the other hand, wonder why everybody else's languages&mdash;including Russian&mdash;sound so sing-songy.

You should note that in Finland you're not entitled to a phonecall, a search warrant, or to be set free on bail. However, the authorities must allow you to find a lawyer.

==Learning more==

==Learning more==

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[http://www.kesayliopistot.fi/finncult.htm#study Summer courses] on Finnish language and culture are available at the major universities including [http://www.kesayliopistohki.fi/sivut/english Helsinki].

[http://www.kesayliopistot.fi/finncult.htm#study Summer courses] on Finnish language and culture are available at the major universities including [http://www.kesayliopistohki.fi/sivut/english Helsinki].

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* [http://www.henkimaa.nu/finndex/suomea/learning/tools.html Tools for Learning Finnish] - a great collection of online resources for learning Finnish

Revision as of 16:05, 20 August 2013

Finnish (suomen kieli, suomi) is spoken in Finland and by Finns elsewhere, predominantly in Scandinavia. Whether travellers to Finland need to learn Finnish is doubtful, since most Finns — including virtually all under 40 — speak at least some English. However, since so few people make the effort, you're guaranteed to get delighted reactions if you try.

Understand

Finnish is a Finno-Ugric language and hence completely unrelated to almost every language between Iceland and India. In particular, Finnish has grammatically nothing at all in common with other Scandinavian languages or Russian, although there are many loan words from both.

The origin of these languages traces back over 5000 years to nomadic peoples of the Ural mountains in Russia that migrated westward into Europe. Just across the Gulf of Finland the closest modern relative to the Finnish language, Estonian, is spoken. Other related languages are the Sámi languages of Lapland and the Murmansk Peninsula, and more distantly, Hungarian.

Pronunciation

The Finnish language is fairly easy to pronounce: it has one of the most phonetic writing systems in the world, with only a small number of simple consonants and relatively few vowel sounds.

Native English speakers tend to have the most problems with vowel length and the distinction between the front vowels (ä, ö, y) and back vowels (a, o, u). English does make the same distiction — consider the "a" sounds of father (back) and cat (front), or the difference in the "i" sound for bit (short) and beat (long) — but you will need to pay extra attention to it in Finnish.

In Finnish, all vowels are single sounds (or "pure" vowels). Doubled letters are simply pronounced longer, but it's important to differentiate between short and long sounds. Example:

tuli (TO-ly) → fire

tuuli (TOO-ly) → wind

tulli (TUL-ly) → customs

The basic Finnish alphabet consists of the following letters:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p r s t u v y z ä ö

Additionally the letters š and ž appear in a small number of loanwords and are pronounced like English sh and as s in treasure, respectively. The letter w also occurs infrequently in some proper names and is treated identically to v. Lastly, the letter å occurs in some Swedish proper names and is pronounced "o", but the beginning learner need not worry about these minutiae.

Vowels

The harmony of vowels
Finnish has an unusual feature called vowel harmony, which means that the front vowels (ä, ö, y) and the back vowels (a, o, u) can never be found in the same word. (Compound words don't count, and the mid-vowels i, e are OK anywhere.) This extends even into loanwords and conjugations: most Finns pronounce Olympia as olumpia, and suffixes with "a" bend into "ä" when necessary (jaa → jaata, jää → jäätä).

Long vowels are indicated simply by doubling the vowel in question.

a

like a in father, but short and clipped

aa

like a in father

e

like e in get

ee

not found in English, but just stretch out the e sound

i

like ee in beet

o

like o in nor

oo

stretch out the o sound

u

like ou in would

uu

like oo in moon

y

like German ü, similar to ew in few but with lips rounded (transcribed uu)

yy

not found in English, but just stretch out the y sound

ä

like a in cat

ää

like a in bad

ö

like German ö, similar to e in her (transcribed eu)

öö

not found in English, but just stretch out the "ö" sound

Diphthongs (vowel sequences) like the uo of Suomi (Finland) are common. They retain the individual sounds of their vowels, but are slightly blended together to be pronounced in one "beat".

Consonants

If a Finnish consonant is doubled, it should be pronounced lengthened. For plosives like p, t, k, this means getting your mouth ready to say it, but pausing for a moment. Hence mato (worm) is "MA-to", but matto (carpet) is "MAT-to".

b c d f

pronounced as in English (never used in native Finnish words, except d)

g

like g in get (never used in native Finnish words, except the digraph ng, see below)

h

like h in hotel, pronounced more strongly before a consonant

j

like y in yes

k

similar to English k, but unaspirated and slightly voiced

ks

pronounced like English x

l m n

pronounced as in English

nk ng

pronounced like ng in sing

p

similar to English p, but unaspirated and slightly voiced

r

trilled, as in Spanish perro

s

like ss in hiss

t

pronounced as in English

v w

like v in vine

z

like ts in cats (not used in native Finnish words)

Stress and tone

Word stress is always on the first syllable; compounds words have more than one stressed syllable. There is no tone whatsoever in Finnish speech, just long strings of fairly monotone sounds, with all syllables given equal value except the first one. Foreigners tend to think this makes the language sound rather depressing; Finns, on the other hand, wonder why everybody else's languages—including Russian—sound so sing-songy.

Grammar

Finnish grammar is radically different from English (or any other Indo-European language), making Finnish a rather difficult language to master, and Finns love to regale foreigners with horror stories of compound words a mile long and verbs with seventeen suffixes tacked on. Basically, everything in a sentence (nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns) inflects to indicate who is doing what, why, when and in what way, so constructing even a simple sentence requires lots of tweaking about:

I go to the shop. I quickly buy bread.

Menen kauppaan. Ostan nopeasti leipää.

go-I shop-to. buy-I quick-adverb bread-object.

Nouns can be declined in 14 different cases and there is a whole assortment of additional suffixes, leading to improbable but entirely grammatical monsters like talo ("house") → taloissammekinkohan ("also in our houses, perhaps?") or kala ("fish") → kalastajamaisuudettomuudellansakaan ("even by using his non-fisherman-likeness").

The good news is that most of these monstrosities are limited to formal written Finnish, and it's possible to "speak like Tarzan" (without conjugating anything) in subject-verb-object order like English and still be more or less understood. Minä mennä kauppa, minä nopea ostaa leipä (I go shop, I quick buy bread) will get you a zero in Finnish class, but it gets the message across.

And there are some minor consolations for the aspiring student: Finnish has no articles and no grammatical gender. Rules for conjugation are often complex, but at least they are very regular.

Phrase list

Common signs

AUKI, AVOINNA

Open

KIINNI, SULJETTU

Closed

SISÄÄN(KÄYNTI)

Entrance

ULOS(KÄYNTI)

Exit

TYÖNNÄ

Push

VEDÄ

Pull

WC

Toilet

HERRAT, MIEHET

Men

NAISET

Women

KIELLETTY

Forbidden

SEIS

Stop

Phrases in the following phrase list use the informal singular (sinuttelu), which is by far the most common form in modern Finnish and appropriate for almost all situations a traveller might encounter.

Note: Due to the ease, specificity and regularity of Finnish pronunciation, the difficulty of transcribing long vowels, and the general inaccuracy of English-based phoneticizations, it is highly recommended you take a few minutes to learn the alphabet instead of relying on the phoneticizations. That being said, however, Finns are often quite excited to hear a foreigner attempt to speak the language and tend to be very forgiving of pronunciation blunders.

Basics

Good day

Hyvää päivää (HUU-vaa PIGH-vaa)

Hello (informal)

Moi (MOI), Hei (HAY), Terve (TEHR-veh)

How are you?

Mitä kuuluu? (MEE-ta KOO-loo?)

Fine, thank you.

Kiitos, hyvää. (KEE-toss, HUU-vaa)

What is your name?

Mikä sinun nimesi on? (MEE-ka SEE-noon NEE-meh-see ohn?)

My name is ______ .

Nimeni on ______ . (NEE-meh-nee ohn _____ .)

Nice to meet you.

Hauska tavata. (HOWS-kah TAH-vah-tah)

Pretty pretty please?
The word please doesn't translate very easily into Finnish, although starting requests with Saisinko... (Could I please have...) or Voisitko... (Could you please...) can often substitute. If you have been asked something (eg. "What would you like?", or "Where do you want to go?"), you can just state X, kiitos in response. Better yet, just smile!

Problems

I no, you no, we all no
In Finnish, the word "no" — ei — is a verb, so it can be conjugated. Thus, if juo or juoda means "drink"...

en juo

"I don't drink"

et juo

"you don't drink"

ei juo

"he/she doesn't drink"

emme juo

"we don't drink"

ette juo

"you all don't drink"

eivät juo

"they don't drink".

ei juoda

"let's not drink"

Leave me alone!

Anna minun olla rauhassa! (AHN-nah MEE-noon OHL-lah RAU-has-sah)

Don't touch!

Älä koske! (AL-ah KOHSS-keh!)

I will call the police.

Kutsun poliisin. (KOOT-soon POH-lee-sin)

Police!

Poliisi! (POH-lee-see!)

Stop! Thief!

Pysähdy! Varas! (PUU-sa-duu! VAH-rahs!)

I need your help.

Tarvitsen apuasi. (TAHR-veet-sehn AH-poo-ah-see)

It's an emergency.

Nyt on hätä. (NUUT ohn HA-ta)

I'm lost.

Olen eksynyt. (OH-lehn EHK-suu-nuut)

I lost my bag.

Laukkuni katosi. (LAUK-koo-nee KAH-toh-see)

I lost my wallet.

Lompakkoni katosi. (LOHM-pahk-koh-nee KAH-toh-see)

I'm sick.

Olen kipeä. (OH-lehn KEE-peh-a)

I've been injured.

Olen loukkaantunut. (OH-lehn LOH-ook-kahn-too-noot)

I need a doctor.

Tarvitsen lääkärin. (TAHR-veet-sehn LAA-ka-reen)

Can I use your phone?

Saanko käyttää puhelintasi? (SAAN-koh KA-UU-dAh POO-heh-LIN-tah-sih)

Numbers

Chopping up numbers
Does saying things like seitsemänkymmentäkahdeksan for "78" seem terribly long-winded? Finns think so too, and in colloquial speech they abbreviate brutally, leaving just the first syllable of each component: seit-kyt-kahdeksan. Here are the short "prefix" forms, but note that they can only be used in compounds.

1

yks-

2

kaks-

3

kol-

4

nel-

5

viis-

6

kuus-

7

seit-

8

kaheks-

9

yheks-

10

-kyt

1

yksi (UUK-see)

2

kaksi (KAHK-see)

3

kolme (KOHL-meh)

4

neljä (NEHL-ya)

5

viisi (VEE-see)

6

kuusi (KOO-see)

7

seitsemän (SAYT-seh-man)

8

kahdeksan (KAHH-dehk-sahn)

9

yhdeksän (UUHH-dehk-san)

10

kymmenen (KUUM-mehn-nehn)

11

yksitoista (UUK-see-tois-tah)

12

kaksitoista (KAHK-see-tois-tah...)

1X

X-toista

20

kaksikymmentä (KAHK-see-KUUM-mehn-ta)

21

kaksikymmentäyksi (KAHK-see-KUUM-mehn-ta-UUK-see)

2X

kaksikymmentä-X

30

kolmekymmentä (KOHL-meh-KUUM-mehn-ta)

XY

X-kymmentä-Y

100

sata (SAH-tah)

200

kaksisataa (KAHK-see-SAH-tah)

300

kolmesataa (KOHL-meh-SAH-tah)

1000

tuhat (TOO-haht)

2000

kaksi tuhatta (KAHK-see TOO-haht-tah)

1,000,000

miljoona (MEEL-yoh-nah)

1,000,000,000

miljardi (MEEL-yahr-dee)

1,000,000,000,000

biljoona (BEEL-yoh-nah)

number _____ (train, bus, etc.)

numero _____ (NOO-meh-roh _____)

half

puoli (POO-oh-lee)

less

vähemmän (VA-hehm-man)

more

enemmän (EH-nehm-man)

Time

now

nyt (NUUT)

later

myöhemmin (MUU-eu-hehm-meen)

before

ennen (EHN-nehn)

morning

aamu (AH-moo)

afternoon

iltapäivä (EEL-tah-pigh-va)

evening

ilta (EEL-tah)

night

yö (UU-eu)

Clock time

The 24-hour clock is commonly used in Finland.

one o'clock AM

kello yksi aamulla (KEHL-loh UUK-see AHM-mool-lah)

two o'clock AM

kello kaksi aamulla (KEHL-loh KAHK-see AHM-mool-lah)

noon

kello kaksitoista or keskipäivä (KEHS-kee-pigh-va)

one o'clock PM

kello kolmetoista (KEHL-loh KOHL-meh-tois-tah)

two o'clock PM

kello neljätoista (KEHL-loh NEHL-ya-tois-tah)

midnight

keskiyö (KEHS-kee-uu-eu)

Duration

_____ minute(s)

_____ minuutti(a) (MEE-noot-tee-[ah])

_____ hour(s)

_____ tunti(a) (TOON-tee-[ah])

_____ day(s)

_____ päivä(ä) (PIGH-va[a])

_____ week(s)

_____ viikko(a) (VEEK-koh-[ah])

_____ month(s)

_____ kuukausi / kuukautta (KOO-kow-see / KOO-kowt-tah)

_____ year(s)

_____ vuosi / vuotta (VOO-oh-see / VOO-oh-tah)

Days

today

tänään (TA-naan)

yesterday

eilen (AY-lehn)

tomorrow

huomenna (HOO-oh-mehn-nah)

this week

tällä viikolla (TAL-la VEE-kohl-lah)

last week

viime viikolla (VEE-meh VEE-kohl-lah)

next week

ensi viikolla (EHN-see VEE-kohl-lah)

Sunday

sunnuntai (SOON-noon-tigh)

Monday

maanantai (MAH-nahn-tigh)

Tuesday

tiistai (TEES-tigh)

Wednesday

keskiviikko (KEHS-kee-veek-koh)

Thursday

torstai (TOHRS-tigh)

Friday

perjantai (PEHR-yahn-tigh)

Saturday

lauantai (LAU-ahn-tigh)

Months

January

tammikuu (TAHM-mee-koo)

February

helmikuu (HEHL-mee-koo)

March

maaliskuu (MAH-leess-koo)

April

huhtikuu (HOOHH-tee-koo)

May

toukokuu (TOH-koh-koo)

June

kesäkuu (KEH-sa-koo)

July

heinäkuu (HAY-na-koo)

August

elokuu (EH-loh-koo)

September

syyskuu (SUUS-koo)

October

lokakuu (LOH-kah-koo)

November

marraskuu (MAHR-rahss-koo)

December

joulukuu (YOH-loo-koo)

Writing time and date

Dates are written in the day-month-year order, eg. 2.5.1990 for May 2nd, 1990. If the month is written out, both the forms 2. toukokuuta (2nd of May) and toukokuun 2. päivä (May's 2nd) are used.

Colors

black

musta (MOOS-tah)

white

valkoinen (VAHL-koy-nehn)

gray

harmaa (HAHR-mah)

red

punainen (POO-nigh-nehn)

blue

sininen (SEE-nee-nehn)

yellow

keltainen (KEHL-tigh-nehn)

green

vihreä (VEEHH-reh-a)

orange

oranssi (OH-rahns-see)

purple

violetti (VEE-oh-leht-tee)

brown

ruskea (ROOS-keh-ah)

pink

pinkki (PEENK-kee)

Transportation

Due to the difficulty of conjugating various place names, the phrases below are not grammatically correct. They will, however, definitely be understood.

Place Names

In general, the name of the language is the same as the country, but uncapitalized.eg. Espanja → Spain, espanja → Spanish

Learning more

While in Finland

The University of Helsinki offers a highly popular Finnish for Foreigners program in six different skill levels, ranging from absolute beginner to advanced courses ending with language certification. Spring and Fall classes are offered in standard 1 unit (3 hrs/wk, 135 €) and intensive 2 unit (8 hrs/wk, 310 €) versions.